Sandra Parks, 13-year-old Milwaukee, Wisconsin writer, killed in home by stray bullet
By
Jacob Crosse
24 November 2018
On Monday, November 19, Sandra Parks, a 13-year-old Milwaukee, Wisconsin writer, was shot and killed by an apparent stray bullet, one of four that entered her home and struck her while she was in her bedroom. Parks is the seventh Milwaukee Public School student killed this year via homicide, the twelfth child killed by firearms, and the 91st overall homicide in the Midwestern state’s largest city.
In what is now a standard response to every social crime or emergency that befalls workers under capitalism, a GoFundMe account has been set up by the family to help pay for exorbitant funeral costs.
Parks placed 3rd in a school-wide district writing contest, held in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., two years ago this week. In her moving essay, titled, “Our Truth,” Parks vividly described the social deterioration and trauma of daily life experienced by the youth and working class in the city.
“Sometimes, I sit back and I have to escape from what I see and hear every day. I put my headphones on and let the music take me away. I move to the beat and try to think about life and what everything means. When I do; I come to the same conclusion… we are in a state of chaos. In the city in which I live, I hear and see examples of chaos almost everyday. Little children are victims of senseless gun violence.”
Following her death, Parks’ words have resonated with workers, parents and children across the country who are searching for solutions to prevent this type of “senseless violence,” which is pervasive throughout American society.
Six shell casings were recovered outside her family’s north Milwaukee home. Two young men have been charged with…